Internet Solutions (IS) recently launched their VoIS Anywhere mobile softphone application, enabling subscribers to make and receive voice calls with the use of a hand- or head-set and the IS softphone client installed on their laptop. These calls can be made to both on-net and off-net sites at cheaper rates than fixed and mobile calls. <\/p>\n
“The softphone connects to a corporate account and therefore incurs local corporate VoIP rates, even if the user is overseas. This has a huge cost implication for businesses that either deal with international clients or who have a workforce that travels extensively. Local telecommuters will enjoy this service too,” says Greg Hatfield, VoIS Business Unit Manager at IS.<\/p>\n
According to Hatfield, using VoIP softphone technology can reduce international call costs by up to 90%, especially when compared to international mobile roaming rates, which are often upwards of R25 per minute. “This is because international calls are viewed as local calls.”<\/p>\n
“Local connectivity to the VoIS community is not a prerequisite for this service. However, in order for a company to benefit from low community call rates their onsite telephony would need to be VoIS enabled,” says Hatfield.<\/p>\n
VoIS Anywhere subscribers are assigned an 087 number on the VoIS network, which will give them off-net and on-net billing options, billed to a corporate account based on their call type. <\/p>\n
“This does mean that the corporate account could be used for personal calls, but the risk is no different to that of providing a desk phone to employees,” comments Hatfield. Additional billing and administrative benefits of using VoIS Anywhere include the fact that companies don’t have to recon employee phone bills after international business trips. <\/p>\n
“The performance and quality of the call will be based on the quality of the internet connection used,” he continues. “From trials we have found that Wi-Fi and hotel DSL connections typically work really well, but public internet cafes can sometimes be problematic due to the traffic on the line. Users can also connect to corporate LANs or through any other IP connection.”<\/p>\n
The VoIS Anywhere service will be hosted at the new IS data centre in Parklands, but will be geographically redundant, meaning it will be split across multiple IS data centres. <\/p>\n
Hatfield says that the functionality behind VoIS Anywhere is a native to the IS’ carrier-grade soft switch platform, meaning that the technology has been available for a while. “However, in order to deliver optimal voice functionality we have been developing the offering to ensure that IS customers have a cost effective and manageable telephony service for their travelling workforce. We are therefore happy to announce that VoIS Anywhere is now ready for delivery to the local business market,” he concludes.<\/p>\n
Pricing<\/strong><\/p>\n There is a once off charge for the software, after which IS will issue users with log-in and activation details. There are no fixed monthly costs. <\/p>\n This raises the question as to how IS’s VoIS Anywhere pricing compares with other VoIP services like Skype where the software is free and where users can use video-conferencing, text and related services without any charge.<\/p>\n IS was called for more information about the service and pricing, but the company could not say how much the software costs or what the price of calls will be when using the service at the time of the call. <\/p>\n The IS representative could also not say what makes this service different from Skype and whether their pricing will be competitive when compared to other soft-phone services like Skype. <\/p>\n The IS representative said that they will provide more details about this product, but no information was received by the time of publication.<\/p>\n